Sweeney TX: 13 yo shoots 11 yo brother in head by accident

[philip964]

https://www.click2houston.com/news/13-y ... icials-say

Life flighted, still alive.

[Grundy1133]

the parents/guardians should be charged with negligence... minimum.

[LeonCarr]

I agree with Grundy.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

[crazy2medic]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

[J.R.@A&M]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

Agree that hiding a gun from your kids is not the answe. Texas Penal Code 46.13 sets the criminal standard at unsecured access to loaded firearm by 16 yr olds or younger. My answer is locking up my firearms when not being carried by me.

[cyphertext]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

Agree that hiding a gun from your kids is not the answe. Texas Penal Code 46.13 sets the criminal standard at unsecured access to loaded firearm by 16 yr olds or younger. My answer is locking up my firearms when not being carried by me.

So the deputy in this story should have been charged with a crime?
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texa ... 712908.php

[Mike S]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

Agree that hiding a gun from your kids is not the answe. Texas Penal Code 46.13 sets the criminal standard at unsecured access to loaded firearm by 16 yr olds or younger. My answer is locking up my firearms when not being carried by me.

So the deputy in this story should have been charged with a crime?
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texa ... 712908.php

No. If you read the text of TPC 46.13 you'll see several affirmative defenses listed. A minor using the firearm in lawful defense is listed as one, as it should be.

[cyphertext]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

Agree that hiding a gun from your kids is not the answe. Texas Penal Code 46.13 sets the criminal standard at unsecured access to loaded firearm by 16 yr olds or younger. My answer is locking up my firearms when not being carried by me.

So the deputy in this story should have been charged with a crime?
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texa ... 712908.php

No. If you read the text of TPC 46.13 you'll see several affirmative defenses listed. A minor using the firearm in lawful defense is listed as one, as it should be.

I understand that it is a defense to prosecution... however, if you follow the law as written, if the firearm is stored in a manner where it is not made available to the child, then the child would not be able to access the firearm in self defense. If the story above was about the child defending his brother with the firearm, we would all be applauding, but since it is about the child shooting another child, folks are calling for the parents to be charged... same access to a firearm, just different outcomes.

[Mike S]

My children were taught from a very early age not to touch my guns, both were taught to shoot when they were 4yo, my daughter never had much interest, my son by the time he was 13 had his own guns and could hit an egg size target at 400yds, had a AR15 in his closet, I trusted him implicitly with a firearm!
If there is a gun in the house, teach your kids how to use it, what it will do, and the rules that they need to know! Hiding a gun from you kids is NOT the answer!

Agree that hiding a gun from your kids is not the answe. Texas Penal Code 46.13 sets the criminal standard at unsecured access to loaded firearm by 16 yr olds or younger. My answer is locking up my firearms when not being carried by me.

So the deputy in this story should have been charged with a crime?
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texa ... 712908.php

No. If you read the text of TPC 46.13 you'll see several affirmative defenses listed. A minor using the firearm in lawful defense is listed as one, as it should be.

I understand that it is a defense to prosecution... however, if you follow the law as written, if the firearm is stored in a manner where it is not made available to the child, then the child would not be able to access the firearm in self defense. If the story above was about the child defending his brother with the firearm, we would all be applauding, but since it is about the child shooting another child, folks are calling for the parents to be charged... same access to a firearm, just different outcomes.

I'd respectfully disagree. The 'circumstances' were totally different, not the 'outcomes'. Its the totality of the circumstances that would be considered, not merely that a child had access, & someone was injured/killed. To be more concise, there's no sense in charging someone with a crime when the law specifically states there's a defense to prosecution that clearly applied.

ETA: I'll also concede that I have no knowledge about the firearms storage in either of these two cases. If, for example in the definsive use article you linked to, the rifle was secured in a gun safe & the child called a parent to get the safe combo. Conversely, in the current one linked by the OP I have no idea if the gun 'was' locked up, but the child YouTubed how to picked a cheap Chinese lock (... I'm totally making both examples up as an example of how little we actually know...). Based on the limited information publicly available, all I can say definitely is that it's a tragedy a child was injured in this case, & a blessing that in the other case the son was able to, & knew how to use the rifle defensively.